Google Docs for Android Lets Users Add Photos to Documents

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) enhanced its native Google Docs for Android application, adding the ability to drop photos users take from their Android smartphone right into a Google document.

The search engine in April launched the Google Docs application for Android with a nifty feature that lets users turn photos with text into documents that may be edited from smartphones.

Users simply tap a button to create a new document from a photo or select the camera icon from the widget.

The document will then appear in the documents list after the phone user snaps the picture. Users may also convert existing photos from their Android phone by sharing them with the Google Docs app.

With the Docs for Android bump, users can now tap the camera icon from the Docs widget icon on their Android phone, shoot a photo, and then select “send to Web Clipboard” and press “OK.”

Then users can open any Google document from their computer, click the Web Clipboard icon and pick the item to paste into their document.

Google also improved the app so that users can open documents with any compatible viewer application or send a document as an attachment through email or another app on their phone.

The idea is that not only can users create, edit and access documents from their mobile phone, but they can augment the documents with photos, then save them in Google’s cloud computing system for later access on desktop computers and laptops.

Such mobile workflow capabilities are important at a time when corporate professionals are increasingly tasked to complete their projects while traveling.

While the initial Docs app was available only in English, the improved Docs app is available in 45 additional languages.